


Thanks a latte, Bucky

by buckybarnes19



Series: Bucky's Big Adventure [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Recovering!Bucky, Starbucks, sam wilson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4512864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybarnes19/pseuds/buckybarnes19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky fidgeted, blushing a little and only shyly making eye contact. The two coffees in his hands were steaming. They smelled good, with hints of vanilla and pumpkin. </p><p>"You went out?" Steve asked. He stared at the coffees like they were made of gold, some kind of unattainable treasure that Bucky has fought through obstacles to get. Because of course that's what they were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanks a latte, Bucky

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the bad title. I'm the worst at titles. I'm not sorry for what follows

Three people stood huddled together under the door stoop, gazing out at the street below the stairway. It was a busy street full of people going back and forth, barking into cell phones or chatting with each other while cars loudly zipped down the road. Bucky stood behind Sam and Steve, shoulders hunched inside his jacket, the brim of his baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. Steve's eyes often flicked to Bucky and back but Sam kept his body language relaxed and didn't seem to pay too much attention to Bucky, although he was focused on nothing else.

This was Bucky’s first major outing since moving into Steve’s apartment months ago. Together, Sam and Steve coaxed him into agreeing to walk a block or two before returning to the apartment. His agreement was reluctant but he _had_ agreed and now here they were. Just getting him out onto the stoop was a small miracle for which Steve and Sam were thankful.

"Buck? You ok?"

Sam pressed his lips together but didn't say anything, instead settling for a grouchy side-eye. He talked to Steve over and over about not pressuring Bucky. He understood Steve was just nervous, hence the cut-eye instead of a well worded jab.

Bucky didn’t answer but clenched his jaw. His training as the Winter Soldier kept him from betraying too much emotion and he still had trouble expressing his thoughts and any individual opinions, but Sam had worked with him often enough by now that he could tell Bucky wasn’t ok.

"Everything is going to be fine," Sam said in a soothing but not patronizing voice. "Steve and I are right here, we aren't going to leave your side."

Bucky scanned the sky and his eyes were empty, haunted. They were losing him quickly. Sam took a risk and reached out, touching Bucky's arm. Bucky's eyes flashed dangerously, his arm tensed, and Sam suspected that Bucky only just checked his reaction to strike. The moment ended. Bucky turned and fled back into the apartment.

Sam and Steve looked at each other. Steve looked heartbroken and Sam leaned against the wall, watching him carefully.

"I know I've said this before but you need to understand that he might never be the guy you knew," Sam said. "And when I say 'might' I mean 'probably'."

Steve didn't look at him, instead absently watching a jogger run past with her dog. The muscles in his jaw were tight. "Yeah, I know. But I gotta keep trying, right?" He forced a smile, shrugged, and went inside after Bucky. For whatever reason he preferred Steve's company after an episode.

Sam sighed and sat down on the stoop to wait for the all clear.  
...  
The next day they got Bucky back on the stoop but he spooked, went back inside, and refused to co-operate for three days. Sam left him alone when he stopped by to visit and told Steve to do the same. Bucky stayed in his room unless he was sure Steve was elsewhere, and then he would only leave his hideout for food and to use the bathroom. Steve obeyed Sam's orders, hard as it was, and let Bucky be by himself while he recovered.

A week went by and Bucky seemed to have completely given up on the idea of leaving the apartment. He'd also retreated so far into himself that he was almost mute. Sometimes he would stare out the window for hours, occasionally mouthing words but never speaking. The most Steve could get out of him was a grunt and he put on a movie that Bucky stared at without ever really seeing.  
...  
Steve fell asleep on the couch with a book in his hands. His sleep was peaceful despite the anxiety of the last few weeks. When he fell asleep Bucky was in his room with the door closed, locked away like he had been for the past three hours.

Steve twitched in his sleep, moaned a little bit, and rolled over onto his side. Slowly he came to wakefulness and blinked. There was a man in his apartment and years of training made him half-rise with the agility of a cat before he stopped.

It was just Bucky, but... Steve pulled himself into a sitting position, his mouth open, staring.

Bucky fidgeted, blushing a little and only shyly making eye contact. The two coffees in his hands were steaming. They smelled good, with hints of vanilla and pumpkin.

"You went out?" Steve asked. He stared at the coffees like they were made of gold, some kind of unattainable treasure that Bucky has fought through obstacles to get. Because of course that's what they were.

"Yeah. C'mon, Stevie, these are hot." He held one out and Steve took it automatically. Bucky sank into his preferred armchair, tugging at the hood of his black sweater and causing the coins in his pockets to jingle. Steve couldn't take his eyes off him. Bucky, who'd been mute and on the verge of an episode for days, went out without Steve knowing and walked down the street to the Starbucks. By himself. Bucky. Steve sipped the vanilla flavoured coffee to give himself something to do and barely noticed the sickly sweetness of whatever this concoction was. He didn't even mind the extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

"The guy who served me had purple hair and more piercings than I could count," Bucky said, taking a deep sip of his drink. He looked thoughtfully at the wall. "Maybe I'll get a piercing," he said, absently rubbing the shell of his ear.

Steve stood up suddenly, startling Bucky, who momentarily shrank back into the cushy chair, adopting a familiar fighting position with his hand resting on a secreted knife. Steve hardly noticed.

He went to the kitchen where he'd left his phone, ignored the six messages from Nat, and brought the phone quickly back to the living room. Bucky watched him, hunched over his coffee like he thought someone was going to take it from him. Steve opened the camera and kneeled beside Bucky and holding his coffee, dopey grin on his face, he snapped a quick picture.

Bucky's grump face was unmatched by any damn Internet cat. He looked a little embarrassed. "Why?" he said, half annoyed, half piteous. He didn't like having his picture taken, since Hydra drilled it into his brain that a good assassin wasn't captured, even on film, but living with Steve meant having to put up with the occasional surprise photo shoot. Sometimes he faked illnesses to get out of them.

"For your scrapbook," Steve said, unable to wipe that dumb smile off his face. Bucky sipped his coffee, then wiped the whipped cream off his nose and licked it off his hand.

"What occasion is it this time?" he said.

Grumpy as he sounded, Bucky loved his scrapbook. It was Sam's idea and one that Bucky took to with surprising enjoyment. Maybe it was the simplicity of glitter glue, stickers, and construction paper that eased a brain on fire. Steve wasn't sure and Bucky wasn't sharing, but that was ok.

"I dunno. Independence. Courage. You went to a fucking Starbucks. By yourself. Bucky, that's - that's amazing." Steve slumped onto the couch and gazed at his friend, stunned, happy, and proud. And then he frowned and cocked his head to one side. "But why today?"

Bucky shrugged. "I dunno... I was just... ready, I guess. Took some time to think about. I dunno." He looked frustrated at not being able to find the right words but Steve continued to smile at him like a golden Labrador with a drool-soaked tennis ball.

Bucky grumped, scowled, and was quietly sullen all day but Steve moved around the apartment beaming and insisted on video calling Sam to tell him the good news. He made Bucky sit next to him and like a proud parent he showed Sam the empty cups still smelling of pumpkin and vanilla. Later the empty coffee cups took a place of pride on Steve's shelf.

When Steve printed the picture (a selfie, he explained to Buck with a shrug as if to say, _This century. What can you do_?) he promptly gave it to Bucky, who looked at it with a sneer and set it aside on the chair so he could get back to his favourite TV show ( _The Powerpuff Girls_ , which Steve never dared interrupt or, God forbid, turn off.).

The next morning when Steve came into the living room, groggy and churning over an odd dream about Clint and a talking dog, he found Bucky with his scrapbook spread out in front of him, tongue between his teeth, happily gluing the picture of him and Steve and their Starbucks onto the next blank page.

Steve stopped, smiling, and impulsively punched Bucky gently on the shoulder. Bucky didn't even flinch, just smiled. "Maybe we can go to that restaurant later. The one with the panda on it."

"Sure, Buck. Whatever you want," Steve said, immeasurably happy.


End file.
